Allegations of sexual misconduct against Gooding rise to 22
CUBA GOODING Jr has been accused of sexual misconduct by seven more women. Court papers filed in Manhattan by prosecutors claim that Cuba groped and forcibly kissed a woman, ripping her tights, at the Sundance Film Festival, with the attack only stopping when she bit him to get away.
The unnamed woman is just one of a new group of seven women who have claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Cuba, with this now bringing the number of his accusers overall to 22.
Gooding has currently only been charged for three of the alleged incidents. He faces six counts of misdemeanour sexual abuse and forcible touching, involving three different accusers.
The prosecutors said in the papers filed:
“Defendant’s past behaviour shows that he routinely approaches women while at bars or nightclubs with whom he has had limited or no prior interaction, and touches them inappropriately.” Cuba “has and does deny all allegations of criminal conduct”.
His lawyer, Mark Heller, said in a statement released Monday: “Unfortunately, people come out of the woodwork, making false allegations against Cuba, as oftentimes happens when a celebrity is accused by the District Attorney’s Office in a Public Forum. The spurious, uncharged allegations offered by the District Attorney’s Office are so ancient and outdated and lacking in details and impairs the defendant from defending against them; thus, it demonstrates that the District Attorney’s Office’s motive in introducing these inflammatory, uncharged allegations is not for any probative value, but to merely gain an advantage against the defendant and prejudice the Jury against the defendant.”
Cuba is next set to appear in court on January 22.